---

Households here saved 13.8% of disposable income

Households saved 13.8% of their disposable income in Quarter 4 last year, down from 14.8% in Q3 of the year.

Ireland’s household saving rate has averaged around 13.8% since the start of 2023, CSO data shows.

While Irish households returned to the same levels of saving before the pandemic, households in many other European countries are now saving a higher proportion of their income than before the pandemic.

The Euro area (20 countries) saving rate for 2023 and 2024 is around 14.7%, up from 12.7% in 2018-2019.

After adjustments for seasonal patterns, Irish household consumption and incomes both rose in Q4 2024, and the faster rise in consumption led to a lower saving rate during that time.

Statistician Peter Culhane said: "Households saved 13.8% of their income in the last quarter of 2024 which is in keeping with the 2023 and 2024 average. This is added to their wealth in the form of buying new homes, growing bank deposits, pension saving, and paying off debt.”

Sharp rise

Saving rose sharply in Ireland during the pandemic in 2020 and 2021 and levelled off in 2022, he added, but in Europe the saving rate has settled at a higher level than before the virus.

“In 2018 and 2019, the Euro area rate was two percentage points lower (12.7%) than the 2024 rate (14.7%).

“However, in Ireland, the 13.8% average rate in 2024 was similar to the rate of the pre-pandemic years (13.5%). As a comparison, Germany, which is the largest economy in Europe with the greatest number of household savers, had a saving rate of 19.6% in 2024, up from 18.0% in 2018-2019," he said.